"You better rub on some more sunscreen, Gwyn," Daddy muttered. He tossed the bottle at my five-year-old self and started lathering another white glob into his blue-veined skin. I was redheaded, light-eyed, and hopelessly freckled just like he was. The sun would crook its rays into sinister claws and scoop both of us into its fiery mouth within minutes if we didn't slather ourselves in gallons of sun goop. Pale people have to be pro-active about protecting their complexions.

My father inspected his arms, worked the excess sunscreen into his elbows, and then glanced at me. "Put some on your ears."

"Yes, Daddy." I placed a dot on each ear.

"No, Gwyn," my father said, smiling. "You'll need more than that." He knelt before me and squirted a puddle of sunscreen into his fingers and then massaged my little ears until they tickled. "Perfect. No skin burn for you." I nodded, like I always did when words were unnecessary.

"You better rub on some more sunscreen, Gwyn," Daddy muttered. He tossed the bottle at my five-year-old self and started lathering another white glob into his blue-veined skin. I was redheaded, light-eyed, and hopelessly freckled just like he was. The sun would crook its rays into sinister claws and scoop both of us into its fiery mouth within minutes if we didn't slather ourselves in gallons of sun goop. Pale people have to be pro-active about protecting their complexions.

My father inspected his arms, worked the excess sunscreen into his elbows, and then glanced at me. "Put some on your ears."

"Yes, Daddy." I placed a dot on each ear.

"No, Gwyn," my father said, smiling. "You'll need more than that." He knelt before me and squirted a puddle of sunscreen into his fingers and then massaged my little ears until they tickled. "Perfect. No skin burn for you." I nodded, like I always did when words were unnecessary.

We, the parents of our two beloved, wonderful children, were finally able to get a date night this weekend. A real one, by ourselves, where we had a trusted friend take care of both children while we left the house and did the things that remind us of who we are as individuals. Apparently, we are not just Mama's Milk Factory or Dad's Montessori Child Delivery service, but real, reasonably intelligent and dare I say likable human beings.

Spending an hour at a wine bar and paying a visit to Powell's Books probably sounds excessively pedestrian to most Portland folks, but if you have recently come through the well-worn path of childbirth while simultaneously wrangling a toddler, you know how important this is.

And for us, it is monumental.

Why the word monumental? As in, deserving of a public art installation or a commemorative plate from the Franklin Mint?

Here's the story.

The L.A. Times has a story today about the violent disappearance of the "family hour" of television - that vaunted time from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. where mom, dad and the kiddies would sit down and watch good-hearted shows with morals, lessons and other tolerable plot themes (for me, this was The Cosby Show, among others). I guess not everyone's a fan of 24 for the 9-year-olds. The report (Kudos to the Times for actually posting it) says sex and violence have taken over the watching hours after school and work, and shows like Kiefer Sutherland's modern-day MacGuyver (let's be honest) among others have soiled a formerly pristine time for TV. Even The Simpsons and Family Guy (especially the latter) have made a mess of the subset.
 

Here's a compelling argument on The Objective Standard dealing with the concept of banning the sale of "violent" video games to children. In short: it's not government's responsibility to decide what intellectual materials are available to children, it's their parents' responsibility.
 
The money quote:
 
"Parents properly want to shield their children from the gratuitous violence so common in today's video games. But we must not allow power-hungry politicians to use that desire as a pretense for usurping the rights of parents to oversee the intellectual upbringing of their children."

Written by Judith Blakley

It all started at an antique fair while on vacation. My youngest daughter found a booth selling tiny animal figurines and she begged for them. The young man selling these items happily informed me that they were Wade figurines. I had never heard of Wade, so he educated me.

The Wade family owned potteries in several towns and their famous pottery became known by their last name. George Wade opened the family’s first pottery in 1810, and it was not until 1950 that the various Wade family potteries consolidated into one large company, Wade Potteries Limited. The Wade family eventually sold their company in 1989 and it is now known as Wade Ceramics Limited.

The various Wade potteries created interesting ceramic products for companies to use in promotions, such as piggy banks for the National Bank to distribute to customers. The Wade family also teamed up with Disney to create a line of Disney figurines.

Written by Judith Blakley

When my children were younger, I told nursery rhymes with them as the characters. I gave the characters my children’s names and personalities and switched up the story lines to fit the way they might handle the same situations. I could never go on a road trip without having to tell these stories repeatedly. Luckily for me, I could change it up with each telling. I had forgotten how much fun my children had with these twisted nursery rhymes, but was reminded after reading Elisa Nova’s adorable telling of how a mouse found its way to her apartment in New York City. Her story, Genesis Revisited (www.associatedcontent.com/article/84908/genesis_revisited) , used the story of Abraham and Lot to dramatize the journey of this little creature.

Apparently, according to the Washington Post, young Russians consider America their number one threat, just as does Putin. Surprise, surprise.
 
This quote is interesting:
 
And while Putin's rhetoric is driving this development, human rights violations associated with U.S. counterterrorism policies have played a role.
 
Now, this seems a little redundant to me, since Putin controls the media with a pretty tight fist and thus "Putin's rhetoric" and "human rights violations associated with U.S. counterterrorism policies" are really one and the same. Certainly, these same youngsters wouldn't be familiar with Russian counterterrorism policies, and would thus have nothing to compare against.
 

My kids have been on vacation at their grandparents house for the last 10 days and I am missing them terribly. Thankfully it's only 2 more days until they get back.
I'm a stay at home dad and spend all kinds of time with them and I've often found myself sitting here wishing for a bit of peace and quiet....then I finally get it and I miss the noise and fun around the house.
Careful what you wish for, I guess.